According to The Jerusalem Post, Ozzy Osbourne arrived in Israel on Sunday, ahead of Tuesday's (September 28) Ozzfest concert in Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park. Earlier today, he held a press conference at Tel Aviv's Sheraton Hotel where he was asked why he hadn't come to Israel before. Osbourne replied, "No reason, really. I mean, I was drunk for too many years." Ozzy also dismissed any talk of artistic boycotts of Israel, saying "I have no time for politics, they [politicians] don't understand me and I don't understand them."
Osbourne's wife/manager Sharon drew a parallel to "the troubles" in Northern Ireland that plagued England in past decades, saying "it's the same as when we had all the problems with the IRA and no one refused to perform in England, so I don't know why people don't come here."
According to Ynet, the Israeli edition of Ozzy's travelling festival, Ozzfest, is reportedly costing nearly $2 million to put on. Ticket prices were originally 325 Israel New Shekels (around $84), and were subsequently raised to 425 Israel New Shekels (around $110). VIP packages — including an actual seat, T-shirt and luxury accommodations — are costing 1,100 Israel New Shekels (around $283).
HALFORD, the band fronted by JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford, has scheduled the following headlining shows in California:
Dec. 15 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
Dec. 17 - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theater
Dec. 18 - San Diego, CA - 4th & B
Dec. 19 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove of Anaheim
HALFORD's new NASCAR-themed, animated-music video, "Made Of Metal", created by London-based animator Dean Wright, can be viewed below. Also available is performance footage of "Made Of Metal", filmed on July 24, 2010 at the Heavy MTL festival at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
HALFORD will release its new album, "Halford IV - Made Of Metal", on September 27 (Europe), September 28 (North America) and October 13 (Japan).
Produced by Roy Z. and recorded during 2009 and 2010, "Made Of Metal" features 14 new songs penned exclusively by Rob Halford.
Commented Halford: "It has been a long wait for the global HALFORD fan base, and of course I'm very pleased to return with 'Halford IV - Made Of Metal' this September. It is probably the most personal release of my solo career in terms of my writing and performances.
"'Halford IV - Made Of Metal' hits hard on many musical and emotional levels. I'm certain it will be recognized as one of the band's best releases, and I'm looking forward to performing the new tracks this year and reconnecting the HALFORD band with its legions of metal fans."
"Halford IV - Made Of Metal" track listing:
01. Undisputed
02. Fire and Ice
03. Made Of Metal
04. Speed Of Sound
05. Like There¹s No Tomorrow
06. Till The Day I Day
07. We Own The Night
08. Heartless
09. Hell Razor
10. Thunder and Lightning
11. Twenty-Five Years
12. Matador
13. I Know We Stand A Chance
14. The Mower
The song "Made Of Metal" is available for paid download at HalfordMusic.com.
HALFORD played its first show in more than seven years on July 17 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, California.
Prior to the San Francisco show, HALFORD's last gig took place on June 6, 2003 in Anaheim, California.
HALFORD released another single, "The Mower", on June 25 via HalfordMusic.com. The track was the first single from "Halford IV - Made Of Metal".
HALFORD's last album, "Halford III - Winter Songs", sold 1,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 26 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
"Halford III - Winter Songs" was Rob's first solo release in more than seven years, and it included a collection of new Halford-penned tracks plus traditional holiday favorites presented with original arrangements by HALFORD (Rob Halford on vocals, Roy Z. on guitar, Metal Mike Chlasciak on guitar, Mike Davis on bass and Bobby Jarzombek on drums).
Jono Pryor of C4, New Zealand's youth entertainment channel, conducted an interview with METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and bassist Robert Trujillo prior to the band's September 21, 2010 concert at the CBS Canterbury Arena in Christchurch, New Zealand. You can now watch the chat below.
When he was asked about the band's current relationship with former bass player Jason Newsted, Hetfield said, "Last time we talked to Jason was at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. We're not coming over for barbecues or anything, but, you know, we're at peace and he's at peace with his decision [to leave METALLICA]. And that's good; there's no ill will towards anything he's done or he's going to do at all."
Jason was inducted, along with the current members of METALLICA and the band's late bassist Cliff Burton, into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on April 4, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio.
METALLICA played "Master Of Puppets" and "Enter Sandman" at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, with Newsted and his replacement, Robert Trujillo, both taking part in the performance (the group played as a five-piece). They also led a "surprise jam" at the end of the night consisting of "Train Kept A Rollin'", with RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS' Flea, LED ZEPPELIN's Jimmy Page, AEROSMITH's Joe Perry and Jeff Beck.
According to MTV, Newsted quit METALLICA in February 2001 for several reasons, including his desire to play more of a creative role. He also felt the band had lost its focus and was spending too much time involved in litigation and political rhetoric. And finally, he needed time off to recover from neck and back injuries he sustained banging his head every night onstage.
Although there was bad blood between METALLICA and GUNS N' ROSES back when the two bands toured together in 1993, Hetfield now says he "kind of" has respect for GUNS leader and sole original member Axl Rose. Hetfield told Australian radio station Triple J, "I've got nothing against GUNS N' ROSES. I mean, he's doing what he wants to do at this point. I don't know if there's much 'guns' or 'roses' in any of that, but it's Axl, and he is Axl and he has not changed or waned one bit, and I kind of respect that."
In the interview, Hetfield was also shown a copy of GUNS N' ROSES' current rider, which includes a bed. Hetfield remarked, "A bed? That's pretty amazing. So he sleeps at the gig."
Although that 1993 trek was marked by injuries, riots, and friction between the two camps, Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich didn't rule out touring with GUNS again at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame press conference. "You know, we're road dogs and we love to tour, so if that opportunity ever came in the right situation, of course," Lars said. "We've learned to never say never, 'cause you don't know what great thing's gonna be handed to you," Hetfield added. "All four of us really like (the new GUNS album) 'Chinese Democracy'," Lars continued. "I think it's a great record and, who knows, I mean, we never say no to anything."
As previously reported, a one-hour private drumming lesson and lunch with Lars Ulrich are being auctioned for charity, with all proceeds going to the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, a not-for-profit public charity dedicated to transforming education to create opportunities for children.
The winner of the auction and a guest will be flown to San Francisco and taken to METALLICA's headquarters, where they will meet Ulrich for a tour, lunch and the winner's private lesson. The prize will include airfare, hotel and a batch of METALLICA gear.
Finally, "The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria", a DVD chronicling a June 22 concert in Sofia, Bulgaria by METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX and MEGADETH, will hit stores in the U.S. on November 2.
The two-disc set will contain the complete sets from all four bands, as well as behind-the-scenes and interview footage. A deluxe edition will include the entire show on five CDs, a poster, a guitar pick and more.
On September 15, Joe Matera of Ultimate-Guitar.com conducted an interview with METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Have you started in any manner the songwriting process for the next METALLICA studio album?
Hammett: No, but we do have riffs here and there, but there are no complete songs as yet. But we all have tons of music that is just lying around; in fact all of us do. That is the great thing about METALLICA; there is never any shortage of ideas.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: You just performed a series of "Big Four" shows [METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX]. What was the experience like?
Hammett: The shows were really great and it was a vibe, man. It was like the Eighties all over again, which was very, very cool. We all kind of realized that we are all in this together and that we all had the same sort of objectives and goals. It's just that we had different ways of getting them. At the end of the day, it became more of a celebration of the fact that we are all still around and all standing and still functioning as bands, and that was a very cool thing. And it was a chance for us to kind of reflect and look back at all the times we had together and all the battles we had fought. It was good to know that all of us are still here and still doing it.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: When it comes soloing, what do you think are the important elements that each guitar player should consider when constructing a solo?
Hammett: Ideally, a solo should be like a good meal. Start off with a bang then have a good meaty middle section and then have a sweet finish. For me when it comes to the solo part, the first couple of licks really need to set the tone of the solo. And it should really just jump out and grab you.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: So is there anything that you specifically pay attention to when coming up with your own solos?
Hammett: What I have always tried to do is to come up with catchy things — you know, hooky parts in the guitar solo that will grab the listener's attention. I will try to put melodic parts into that. But, you know, sometimes I just want to make a bunch of noise.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: How do you think you have evolved as a player over the course of your career?
Hammett: That is a hard question to answer, man, because I am so close to my own playing. But I say that I intend to work on my jazz playing more now. You know, I think as a metal guitar player, I am decent. I am no Eddie Van Halen, but I am still learning, am still learning stuff day to day and still feel like I am growing. I also still think that my music writing is still getting better. I'm still on the up and up and I don't feel like I have reached a plateau. I still think there is a lot more for me to do and learn. And I am still very motivated to do that.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Do you have any ambitions to some day to venture out and do a solo album?
Hammett: Yeah, eventually, but right now I have to say that METALLICA is my home and I have no intentions of running away from that home. But I am going to put a book though. I am working on it and that in itself feels like I am making a solo album because it is so much goddamn fuckin' work! It is all myself. I don't have a band I can rely on or seek support. So I think once I do this book thing, maybe I may start considering doing a solo album, but I don't know.
Ultimate-Guitar.com: Looking back on the "St. Anger" album and its lack of guitar solos, what do you think of that album today?
Hammett: I still love it, man. I think "Frantic", "Dirty Window", the title track and "All Within My Hands", those are just great fuckin' songs and some of my favorite. Frankly, I'm quite shocked that people have such an attitude and issues with it, because for me, it is just another METALLICA album.
Slash has returned to this side of the pond after a very successful European tour in support of his self-titled solo album, which debuted at #3 on the charts. As his band tours the USA, Slash is getting ready to release his album again, this time as a deluxe version. The deluxe CD will include all nineteen songs recorded during the sessions as well as a DVD featuring live footage and bonus features.
Slash, in this interview, also discusses how he thought of asking former GNR band mate Axl Rose to sing on the album as well as asking the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. He reveals that he will also appear on Fergie's solo album and that she is a rocker chick at heart. We also delve into the past and discuss creating "Sweet Child O Mine" and the day Slash auditioned for hair metal stars Poison.
Jeb: We met in the Green Room at the VH1 Rock Honors. My buddy, Ludovic, was with me and he is from Paris. We got to talking and he hooked you up with some Gitanes cigarettes.
Slash: You know, I vaguely remember that. The reason that is so memorable is because that is my brand and they are hard to get. I had them smuggled in.
Jeb: I can have him hook you up again.
Slash: I quit smoking. Its been more than a year ago. I was smoking three packs a day. I was making the record that I just came out with and as I was getting ready to go into the studio, I got fucking pneumonia because I was working so hard and not taking care of myself. I didn't smoke for two weeks -- I tried but I couldn't breath. After two weeks, I grabbed my pack of cigarettes and I thought, "That is so pigheaded. It has been two weeks. I am over the hump." My mom had also just died of cancer. I got the patch and a bunch of nicotine gum but I haven't smoked since. I still chew the gum though. I am still a nicotine hound.
Jeb: I want to say I am sorry to hear about your mom. I didn't realize that.
Slash: It has been a year. It was a drag. She died of lung cancer.
Jeb: We are off to a sad start in this interview. We need to get positive because there is a lot of positive stuff going on in your life.
Slash: [laughter] It has been a while and it has become part of my vernacular. I am sorry about that. Moving on….
Jeb: How were the seeds sown to create the solo album and to then turn around and release the deluxe version with more songs and a DVD?
Slash: It wasn't so much that I wanted to make this big super record with all this cool stuff as it was that I wanted to get the rest of the material that I had recorded out. There were 19 songs recorded altogether. I only had 14 songs on the first pressing because it is hard to force people to sit though 19 songs. I wanted to get another version of the album out to get all the songs on it, and in order to do that, I had to put some cool stuff on it to make it rather enticing. Since we have been out on the road, we have been able to get some really good live footage. We put a video on it, we did some acoustic tracks and we put it all out there.
Jeb: You had worldwide success with Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver. You had some success with Snakepit as well. But this album is turning out to be one of your most successful. Are you shocked by that?
Slash: It has been really, really cool. I went into this with no expectations. It was just an outlet for me because I really wanted to make a record on my own. I had the idea that I wanted to do something with a bunch of people guesting on my record because I have always done a lot of guesting on other people's records. It was really a labor of love. The people were great and it was really easy to make. I got to see what I was made of without the rest of the bands input.
Whenever I make an album it is always a means to going out and play on the road. I met up with Myles Kennedy, who is one of the best rock 'n roll singers out there. We managed to put together a killer rhythm section and the band is great. We have been getting a great rock crowd and it really has been stunning.
Jeb: I want to talk about Myles, but first, lets talk about Fergie. I am a rocker and my favorite songs on the album are "Dr. Alibi" with Lemmy from Motorhead, "Ghost" with Ian Astbury and "The Sword" with Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother. The song I wanted to hate was "Beautiful Dangerous" with Fergie. I can't hate that song. It rocks man. It really rocks.
Slash: Fergie is stereotyped. It is easy to do because she is in the Black Eyed Peas. If I didn't know her I would not have said, "Hey, let's go get that chick to sing on my record." I first met her when I did this impromptu guest appearance with the Black Eyed Peas and we did a rock medley. I had never met her.
I was doing this fund raiser -- that is what we were doing it for -- when we did the rock medley, she sang and and I went, "Wow" because she sang a Led Zeppelin song and then "Barracuda" and "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney. It really just blew my mind. I made friends with her and we got to know each other and it turns out that she is this full on rock chick. She started out in her first groups playing rock music.
Like almost every female in the industry, she made her way into pop music because, in this day and age, it is about the only way to get your foot in the door. She has had tons of success doing pop and she has become world famous because of that group. I knew, however, that she could sing the shit out of rock music. I actually had a song that I had written that I wanted a girl to sing and she was the first person that came to my mind.
Jeb: Does she have another song on the deluxe version?
Slash: No, the other song I have done with her is going to be on her solo record --- she is doing a rock solo record. Listen, Fergie does her thing in the Black Eyed Peas but when she is hanging with me she gets to go off on her wild side. The lyrics are really fucking hardcore, in a sexual way. We just did a video for "Beautiful Dangerous" that is going to paint her in a new light as well.
Jeb: I am going to ask this because I just can't help myself. When is Myles Kennedy going to be named the new singer for Velvet Revolver?
Slash: There are a lot of rumors going around about that. I don't think that is going to happen -- in fact, I know it is not going to happen. He is in a band called Alter Bridge and they've got a new record coming out. We are juggling between Alter Bridge and my tour all next year. I am going back to LA next month and working with Duff, Matt and Dave and working with a couple of new singers to see how they turn out. There is no effort being made to have Myles join Velvet Revolver.
Jeb: Get Fergie on her wild side….
Slash: There are no girls in that band [laughter].
Jeb: I thought of two singers I would have loved to have seen on your solo album. The first is one of your favorite rock singers, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick.
Slash: Robin is one of the best rock n' roll singers of all time. I wrote a bunch of material and the first vocalist that I thought of singing that material is who I went after. I never thought of Robin for any of those particular tracks. If I was going to do this again then he is one of a couple of people that I would love to work with if I had the right material. He is one of my favorite rock singers. I feel shitty now. I really was very spontaneous in who I chose, depending on the song.
Jeb: The other singer is Axl Rose.
Slash: You know, I will be honest with you, even at the sake of it going public, when I was in the middle of this process there were a lot of singers names who flew through my mind during the process. You are living in Singer Land so all you are thinking about is singers. The thought of him crossed my mind at one point. I thought, "Axl could sing the shit out of any of these songs." I, obviously, never made the phone call because I wanted to put the record out in this millennium.
Jeb: Hell, he may have never showed up.
Slash: Exactly. The other singer, and I have mentioned this before, was Michael Jackson. The record was being made right around the time he passed on. Before that happened, he was getting ready to do those shows at the O2 in London. I thought, "Wouldn't it be funny to have Michael Jackson do a heavy metal song." It was a passing thought; I never was committed to it.
Jeb: You may be sick of this subject but I have to ask how you feel about Guns N Roses touring and you not being a part of it. Does it bother you?
Slash: It has been a long time, dude.
Jeb: I know it has but that was your first big band. I would think that band will always be special.
Slash: There was a lot leading up to this. When I quit the band a lot of it had to do with a lot of crazy stipulations that Alx put on Duff and I, one of which was that we had to join his new Guns N Roses. At that point, I realized that it was all way too far gone to deal with anymore; we're done. Not too long after that, Axl ended up putting together the Guns N Roses with whoever was in it. There was so much bitterness at that point that it never really phased me; I didn't really care. We had already done the whole deal with him taking the name and being really downright nasty. From that point on, I didn't really care what he did. At this point, 15 years later, I am like have it at. "Do that thing, dude." I am just glad he is out there.
Jeb: I suppose it is selling the back catalog.
Slash: Not even that… It is just that he is actually back out there trying to work it.
Jeb: My last two songs are fun ones. I am a guitar nut. Do you remember the day you wrote the riff to "Sweet Child O Mine?"
Slash: Yeah, very much so. We had this house that this management company had rented for us, they were courting us to be our managers. It was a really nice house in Laughlin Park, California. We had reduced the house to a mere shell of itself in only a few weeks.
One afternoon, when the smoke was still clearing from the night before, Duff, Izzy and I were sitting around on the floor --- we didn't have any furniture anymore --- and I was dicking around with that riff. In all honestly, I don't really know where the riff came from but, all of a sudden, it started to sound really cool. Izzy started playing acoustic behind it and the chord changes started coming together. Axl was upstairs in his bedroom and he overheard it. A couple of days after we had put together our simple riff/chord structure, Axl said, "Play that song you guys were playing the other day." We were like, "What song?" He goes, "That one with that do do dodo do doo do do." He had written a bunch of lyrics to it without us even knowing about it. It came together relatively quickly. We started rehearsing it and we wrote it from one end to the other that night.
Jeb: Last one: Legend holds that you tried out for Poison but didn't make the cut. Is that true?
Slash: Yeah I did. I was living in LA and I had just gotten done working in a band with Axl, actually, called Hollywood Rose. Steven Adler was in that band as well. I just quit. I told Axl I couldn't handle it anymore and I walked. That was right after the first time Axl and I ever worked together. Matt, the original guitar player for Poison, who was actually a pretty cool guy, had gotten his wife pregnant or they were getting married or something like that. He was moving back to Pennsylvania. He goes, "You should try out for Poison." I hated Poison but in those days you did whatever you had to do to keep moving.
Being very ambitious, as I was, I went and auditioned for Poison. I ended up being one of two guitar players left that they were going to pick from. I remember kicking the shit out of the songs they had. There was no denying that I could play them but there was an issue about makeup and stuff. Bobby Dall asked me what kind of shoes I was going to wear. I was like, "What?" It was kind of obvious that this was going to go nowhere.
As I was walking out of the audition, CC Deville was walking in. He had on pancake makeup and a ton of hairspray. I actually remember thinking right then, "That should be the guy." The next day I got a call from Bobby and he said, "You know, you are great and all but I think we are going to pass on you and go with this other guy." It was CC and it really did make all the sense in the world. I was in a couple of bands after that and then we started Guns and Roses.
A Geek Girl of Technorati recently conducted an interview with original GUNS N' ROSES and current ADLER'S APPETITE drummer Steven Adler about his tell-all autobiography, "My Appetite For Destruction: Sex, And Drugs, And Guns N' Roses". A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
A Geek Girl: Steven, Your positive attitude really comes through in this book. You're like a soldier, no matter what happens you're undaunted. You always get back up.
Adler: Well, you gotta do that. You gotta pick yourself up. Sometimes you just gotta do it over and over, but you gotta do it. You can't give up. I wouldn't give up. I didn't give up — or doubt myself, in becoming a successful musician with a successful band. I knew somewhere in my heart it was there, I was just stuffing so much anger inside, that I was not capable of moving on with my life until I got rid of it. And having the opportunity to do this book really let me do that. Anybody and everybody can write their own book, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to get published, but they can write their own book and get their own feelings out. It helped me a lot. I learned a lot working with Dr. Drew and his staff.
A Geek Girl: You shared such a unique experience with the other guys in GUNS N' ROSES — most bands don't ever make it big. But even if you guys do find the same success in other bands, it will never be like the first time.
Adler: You know what the crazy part is? We didn't finish what we started. And that's the one thing that does bother me about not working with these guys. They are my brothers, Slash and Duff and Izzy and Axl, and we didn't finish what we started — but we're still alive, the five of us. So, we have an opportunity to do it. And I hope the rest of the guys and Axl would like to do it, because I know it would be a wonderful thing, and not just for us. I know if you got the five of us in one room we would do nothing but hug each other. And probably cry. I know I would. You get the five of us in one room, I know we'd be inseparable. It's like Freddie Mercury said, "Each one of us alone can do some stuff that's really cool, but as a unit, as a band, the four or five of us, are a force to be reckoned with. And we are unstoppable." So, I'm hopeful. But I love what I'm doing now. I love my band, ADLER'S APPETITE. I've finally recorded a single with my new band
and it's called "It's Good to Be Alive", which it is! If you go to our website, AdlersAppetiteOnline.com, you get a free download when you buy the book.
A Geek Girl: The new song is called "It's Good to Be Alive" — interesting choice of titles. Do I need to ask what inspired that?
Adler: You know what? It just happened. It just worked out that way. It wasn't planned; it was magic. And that's how it works. We weren't thinking about it. Then I went, "Hey! That reminds me of me." My new band's great. It's hard to find five musicians who know what the other is going to do before they do it. And that's what we had in GN'R. Working with Chip Z'Nuff and Michael Thomas, Rick Stitch and Alex Grossi — we're really close that way. And Chip playing bass and me playing drums, we demand to be like that. And we don't have to be, there's no effort to it.
According to a new Twitter message from VELVET REVOLVER drummer Matt Sorum, the band will try out two singers in early October.
VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash told BostonHerald.com earlier in the month that the search for a new frontman for the group will resume after he finishes his current solo tour, also insisting that his touring vocalist, Myles Kennedy, will not take the job. Kennedy will return to his band ALTER BRIDGE next month, while Slash will take the remaining months of 2010 to work on new music and go through audition tapes. VELVET REVOLVER has been dormant since April 2008, when the band dismissed original frontman Scott Weiland.
Slash told The Pulse of Radio that the band's status hasn't changed since. "Everybody asks the same question: 'Where are you with that?'" he said. "It's really, we're nowhere until we can find somebody who can do that job. Very quietly I've had my ears to the pavement, trying to see if there's anybody that fits that bill, and it's got to be somebody really good, 'cause I don't want to rush into it out of desperation. I want to wait 'til I get the right person."
As for the possibility of enlisting Kennedy, Slash told BostonHerald.com, "Kennedy is still committed to ALTER BRIDGE. I don't want to be the guy responsible for breaking up a band. But we'll find someone. Maybe not somebody known, but some kind of local hero."
Kennedy had actually been approached to sing for VELVET REVOLVER back in the early days of the group, and again after they parted ways with Weiland, but turned down the offer both times.
Slash and his touring band are on the road behind Slash's self-titled solo debut, which features lead vocals from Kennedy, Chris Cornell, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne and others. The tour wraps on October 6 in Los Angeles.
DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen will tape a segment for VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show" in the Los Angeles area. The episode featuring Collen will be broadcast as part of the program's sixth season on VH1 Classic.
Hosted by Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson, and Jim Florentine, "That Metal Show" is a round-table talk show where rock legends hang out and discuss their past and current projects, while interacting with metal fans that make up the studio audience.
In other DEF LEPPARD-related news, this Saturday will be your last chance to catch guitarist Vivian Campbell's hobby project SIR SODOFF AND THE TRAIN WRECKS when they play their last show (for a while) at Baked Potato (3787 Cahuenga Blvd. West) in Studio City, California.
SIR SODOFF AND THE TRAIN WRECKS is a five-piece band consisting of Vivian (vocals and guitar), Glen Sobel (drums), Lou Castro (bass), Michael Fell (harp) and Kara Grainger (guitar and vocals). The band plays songs by THIN LIZZY, HORSLIPS, FREE, RORY GALLAGHER, some Peter Green-era FLEETWOOD MAC, plenty of other blues-type music, and, of course, a number of tracks from Vivian's 2005 solo album, "Two Sides Of If".
A five-pack of classic ANTHRAX songs will be made available on September 28 in the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Wii. The tracks — which include two live tracks which will give you a preview of the band's live show as they tour the U.S. this fall — will be available as Anthrax Pack 01 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Singles are $1.99 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and $2.00 on Wii. The pack will be $8.49 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The thrash metal band's gold-certified album "Among the Living" brings us "Among the Living" and "Indians". We'll get "I'm the Man" from the EP of the same name. And the two live tracks are "Metal Thrashing Mad (Live)" and "Madhouse (Live)". "Indians", "Madhouse (Live)" and "Metal Thrashing (Live)" will also be available in the family-friendly LEGO Rock Band Music Store.
With more than 400 artists, including JIMI HENDRIX, THE WHO, AC/DC and GREEN DAY, who are exclusive to Rock Band, as well as more than 1,100 songs available through the Rock Band platform and 65 million songs sold through its download store alone, Rock Band is the undisputed sales and content leader in the interactive music space, providing the deepest and best selection of artists, songs and albums. Rock Band DLC additions for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Wii.
The self-titled debut album from BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION — the Anglo/American rock supergroup featuring vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH, TRAPEZE), drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN), Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER) and blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa — has entered the official U.K. chart at position No. 13. The CD, which was made available in Europe on Monday, September 20 via Mascot Records and North America on Tuesday, September 21 through J&R Adventures, was produced and mixed by Kevin Shirley (BLACK CROWES, AEROSMITH, LED ZEPPELIN), and mastered by the legendary Bob Ludwig. It was recorded at Shangri-La Studios in early 2010.
"Black Country Communion" is available in the U.K. in three different formats:
** Format #1 - Limited-Edition 2-Disc CD/DVD
Featuring the 12 album tracks on CD, complete with an additional DVD jam-packed with band member interviews, exclusive studio and live images, Kevin Shirley's album production notes, "The Great Divide" music video, behind-the-scenes in-studio footage, plus live tracks as performed by BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION at Riverside, California.
** Format #2 - Single-Disc CD
Regular 1 disc CD edition
** Format #3 - Vinyl
Double-sided 12" vinyl album edition
The limited-edition two-disc CD/DVD is available for at Play.com, while all three formats are available to from Amazon.co.uk and HMV.com.
"Black Country Communion" track listing:
01. Black Country
02. One Last Soul
03. The Great Divide
04. Down Again
05. Beggarman
06. Song Of Yesterday
07. No Time
08. Medusa
09. The Revolution In Me
10. Stand (At The Burning Tree)
11. Sista Jane
12. Too Late For The Sun
All songs are sung by Glenn Hughes, with the exception of "Song Of Yesterday" and "The Revolution In Me", which are both sung by Joe Bonamassa. Hughes and Bonamassa share lead vocals on "Sista Jane" and "Too Late For The Sun". Also included is a new version of "Medusa", the rock classic Hughes originally recorded with his first band TRAPEZE.
BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION initially came to fruition when Shirley saw Hughes and Bonamassa join forces on stage in Los Angeles in November 2009 for an explosive performance at Guitar Center's King of the Blues event. Shirley then recruited Bonham and Sherinian for the project, which is named after the industrial area in the British Midlands where both Hughes and Bonham were born and raised.
BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION is planning a tour in 2011.
MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman Vince Neil has just released his 320-page hardcover autobiography, "Tattoos & Tequila: To Hell and Back with One of Rock's Most Notorious Frontmen". The book made news before it came out when it was revealed that in the memoir, Neil calls Ozzy Osbourne's wife and manager Sharon the "the most evil, shittiest woman I've ever met in my life."
In a brand new interview with VH1 Radio Networks' Dave Basner, Vince explained what he meant with that line.
"I don't think that she really understood or understands — hopefully now she understands it — but what I said about her was through the eyes of a 22-year-old in 1984 and she wasn't very nice to MÖTLEY CRÜE," he said. "That's why we called it the 'No Fun Tour', had t-shirts made up with the smiley face with bullet holes in it and passed them out to everybody. That's the thing, that was my impression of her back then."
Sharon was pretty upset when she found out about what Vince wrote about her. She responded by explaining in a written statement that she was protecting Ozzy from Vince because she "didn't want [Ozzy] to end up like Razzle from HANOI ROCKS who died in a car accident because [Vince was] driving drunk, or like the two innocent people who ended up with severe brain damage and whose lives were ruined as a result of [Vince's] actions."
Neil told VH1 Radio Networks how Sharon's comments made him feel.
"When she insinuated that my car crash that killed Razzle was the reason why she tried to insulate Ozzy from me especially, she should've gotten her timeline straight because the tour was in, I think, February or March of '84, lasted two or three months at the most and the wreck happened in December of '84, so it was a good five or six months after the tour that that happened."
Ozzy himself told The Pulse of Radio that what little he remembers of the '84 tour with the CRÜE was pretty wild. "The 1984 tour was the most craziest tour, I think, I've ever done in my life," he said. "I don't remember it, but I remember I used to wake up every morning or come around thinking, 'What the fuck went on last night?' I mean, everybody keeps asking me, 'Hey, Ozzy, did you really snort a line of ants?' You know what, the answer to that is: I don't know, but it's very possible."
SEPULTURA members Andreas Kisser (guitar) and Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. (bass) were interviewed for the summer 2010 issue of U.K.'s Terrorizer magazine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On the possibility of a reunion of the band's classic lineup, featuring Max Cavalera on guitar/lead vocals and his brother, Igor Cavalera, on drums:
Paulo: "No. There's no reason to have a reunion. The only reason to have a reunion would be the money and that's it.
"We have no contact [with Max], no nothing.
"In Brazil, there's a saying, 'zero on the left,' which means nothing. For me it's like that — gone.
"He [Max] left the band because he wanted to.
"'Keep going with your life, leave me alone; I have nothing to do with you anymore. Do your thing, let me do my thing.' And that's it. I don't care.
"Whatever he is doing; if he's happy, good.
"I am happy with [what the current lineup of SEPULTURA is doing] and that's what I'm sticking to.
"We don't want to go and fuck up this lineup."
On Max's claim that everyone was into the reunion but that Andreas wanted more money:
Andreas: "It's not money. Money could be on the table — as it was — but we have to enjoy ourselves.
"Like I say, we are not slaves of our situation; that I have to go there because I was part of something successful ten or fifteen years ago.
"I have a lot more fun playing with SEPULTURA today than ever.
"We have everything very much organized. We don't have band managers like we used to. We have a much clearer situation of the business.
"We took our road, the hard road, but it was a learning road.
"Max is a really great riff player. As a singer, he has a voice that is very characteristic. He is very charismatic on stage.
"He left [and] we respect that. We took the burden. He took all the good.
"Why would he want to come back now? If you are so happy doing the stuff you are doing, be that.
"I've heard so much stuff that Max has said over the years, but, as I said, money is not an issue.
"The first time they approached us was some ridiculous offer, and me and Paulo had to share ten percent of it all or something stupid like that.
"I am not going on stage as a puppet. I am a musician, for life.
"If we are going to do this, then we have to do it properly. I am not going to practice one day to do one show, one gig after so long, disrespecting our history, disrespecting our fans, just to be there to fulfill some expecations of management, of booking agents. And they want to talk about money? They don't have to show their faces, we have to."
Connecticut hardcore/metal masters HATEBREED will embark on a U.K. headlining tour in December.
Commented HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta: "We're beyond excited to return to the U.K. for a tour in December. We hinted to the fans that we'd be back to do a full headline tour when we were playing with MACHINE HEAD earlier this year. Then we had a great shows in Reading, Colchester and Leeds, so we wanted to make sure we closed out 2010 with a proper headline set for all of our U.K. diehards! Thanks to everyone who made their voices heard on our various websites. We'll see you in December."
The dates are as follows:
Dec. 06 - Bristol, UK - The Fleece
Dec. 07 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
Dec. 08 - Glasgow, UK - Garage
Dec. 09 - Sheffield, UK - Corporation
Dec. 10 - Birmingham, UK - Academy 2
Dec. 11 - Stoke, UK - Sugarmill
Dec. 13 - Leeds, UK - Cockpit
Dec. 14 - Manchester, UK - Club Academy
Dec. 15 - Portsmouth, UK - Wedgewood Rooms
Dec. 16 - London, UK - Garage
The new self-titled album from HATEBREED sold 15,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 37 on The Billboard 200 chart.
HATEBREED's last collection of new material, "Supremacy", opened with around 27,000 copies back in September 2006 to land at No. 31. This number was roughly in line with the first-week tally registered by its predecessor, "Rise Of Brutality", which shifted more than 32,000 copies back in November 2003 to debut at No. 30.
HATEBREED's covers album, entitled "For The Lions", sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release back in May 2009 to debut at position No. 58 on The Billboard 200 chart.
"Hatebreed" was released in North America on September 29, 2009 via E1 Music (formerly KOCH Records). The effort was made available on CD, digital download, vinyl and special edition with a bonus 65-minute DVD.
"Hatebreed" was issued on Roadrunner in all other territories.
RoadrunnerRecords.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH about the band's "In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall" DVD. An excerpt from the chat follows below.
Q: Tell us how you came to this idea to celebrate your 20-year career…
Mikael: Well, it doesn't feel like we've been around for 20 years, really, but 20 years is a long time, especially when you see it on paper; it makes us feel old! But we have been around for 20 years and we wanted to celebrate it somehow, because we never really celebrated anything in those 20 years — we never had a release party, we never had anything. We talked about doing a show or something, and we'd been looking at playing the Royal Albert Hall at some point in our career, and for me it was just something we'd talked about, not something that would become a reality at all. But we did it, and that was the first show we booked, then all of a sudden this party of ours became a big thing. We didn't want to go into the Royal Albert Hall without having played a few shows before, so we booked a few shows around the world at similar venues — well, we tried to get similar venues but it's almost impossible because [the Royal Albert Hall] is so beautiful.
We played at the Cirkus in Stockholm, that was the first show, and then at an old movie theatre (called Lichtburg) in Essen, Germany, then we did the Albert Hall show. We did New York, Los Angeles, and we played at the Bataclan Club in Paris, which is a very nice place. Basically, we wanted to be prepared for the Royal Albert Hall because we knew we were going to film it and record it, so we wanted it to sound good. But that was it, we set up six shows around the world to celebrate 20 years, simple as that.
Q: What was your reasoning for including "Blackwater Park" in its entirety in the set?
Mikael: The reason is it's a popular record. We'd been a band for 10 years when we did "Blackwater Park" but we'd never really had anything going for us, to be honest, until we did that album. The simple reason is that this is the tenth anniversary of our most popular record, many of the songs on that album are well-known OPETH songs, like "The Drapery Falls", "Bleak", "Harvest" and the song "Blackwater Park", so it felt obvious. We were talking about doing an album "[front] to back," and it's quite fashionable for bands to do that — we'd done it before as well — so when we talked about it, we didn't even discuss [which album we'd play]. We just said, "We need to rehearse all those 'Blackwater Park' songs then!" It just felt obvious.
Q: How did you choose the other songs in your set — what has become the second disc of the set?
Mikael: I guess it was difficult, but we weren't on tour for "Watershed" anymore, so we didn't have to plug that album any more than the others, it was just celebrating our career as a band. Our songs are quite long so we couldn't really choose more than one song from each record for the second set. "Forest of October", which is the first song we played, fragments of that song were the first things I ever wrote for OPETH. It's a fun song to play, it's a but naïve, because it's so old now, but I love that song. It's really raw and it really goes back to the very beginning of the band. The second song was "Advent", the opening track from the "Morning Rise" record, and one of the more well-known songs from that album. I think it's still a good song and I think we made it sound as it did back in the day. That's basically how we chose the songs — songs that we like to play and to some extent songs that we thought people would want to hear, but you
obviously have to leave a lot of material out with a thing like this, it can never be complete. We did think about playing "Black Rose Immortal", but there's parts in there that I don't really like, I can't really relate to it anymore. People want to hear that song because it's the longest song we ever recorded, but it's not the best song ever, it's just the longest, so we went with other stuff. I think "The Moor" from "Still Life" is a song people love to hear, it's very difficult to play, and we haven't played it all that much. I think we made it sound really good.
DRAGSTRIP, the Los Angeles-based hard rock band featuring former TANK drummer Gary "Bulldog" Taylor, has released its debut album, "A Heartbeat Away From Disaster", via Riff City Records.
DRAGSTRIP is fronted by U.K. vocalist and showman Kevan Overend, who is described in a press release as "a true rock and roll star (remember those?) in the vein of Freddie Mercury and Marc Bolan." Rounding out the band's current lineup are guitarist/vocalist Tommy Norton (formerly of SPACE AGE PLAYBOYS) and bassist Brian Dobbs.
DRAGSTRIP's influences come from "the great heritage of '70s British hard rock . . . when rock stars had no apologies and were not politically correct. Bands such as THIN LIZZY, UFO, AC/DC and, of course, LED ZEPPELIN."
"A Heartbeat Away From Disaster" track listing:
01. Thanks For The Memories
02. Saturday Night (See My Baby Jive)
03. (You're My) Main Man
04. Chase
05. Ain't Nobody
06. The Game
07. Last Goodbye
08. She's Alright
09. My Little Love
10. Sophia's Song
11. What I Need
DRAGSTRIP is:
Kevan Overend - Vocals
Tommy Norton - Guitar
Gary "Bulldog" Taylor - Drums
Brian Dobbs - Bass
For more information, visit www.dragstripband.com.
North America's progressive metal gods SYMPHONY X have scheduled the following dates for 2011:
Apr. 22 - Best Buy Theater (formerly Nokia Theater) — New York, NY
May 10 - Wiltern Theater - Los Angeles, CA
VIP tickets will be available for both shows and will include early entry, a meet-and-greet, and a free t-shirt. Tickets are available exclusively at EnterTheVault.com and go on sale through regular ticketing outlets on October 23.
SYMPHONY X recently entered the studio to begin recording its next studio album, tentatively due in early 2011 via the band's new record label, Nuclear Blast Records.
SYMPHONY X guitarist Michael Romeo previously stated about the group's new material, "We have over an hour of really good stuff that we really dig; there's more than enough stuff there that we can choose the best songs to go on the CD... but all of the songs are really strong. One is shaping up to be 10 minutes plus.
"I think everyone will like it," Romeo concluded. "It has a little bit of everything."
On November 4, 2008, InsideOut Music released a special 5.1 edition of SYMPHONY X's critically acclaimed album "Paradise Lost". The double-disc package includes a DVD 5.1 mix by Jens Bogren of the entire album as well as two enhanced HD videos for "Set the World on Fire" and "Serpent's Kiss".
"Babez For Breakfast", the fifth studio album from Finnish heavy metal monsters LORDI, has entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 9.
As previously reported, "Babez For Breakfast" sold around 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 43 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
LORDI's last album, "Deadache", opened with 1,700 units back in November 2008 to debut at No. 13 on the Top New Artist Albums chart.
LORDI's most commercially successful LP to date is 2006's "The Arockalypse", which was certified over triple platinum in the band's home country of Finland, gold in Germany (100,000 units), and gold in Sweden (40,000 units). The single "Hard Rock Hallelujah" achieved gold status in Germany (150,000 units).
"Babez For Breakfast" was released on September 14 in the U.S., September 15 in Europe and on October 27 in Japan. The CD was recorded in early 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee with highly regarded producer Michael Wagener, who has produced albums for artists as varied as OZZY OSBOURNE, ALICE COOPER and JANET JACKSON and mixed METALLICA's classic "Master of Puppets".
"Babez For Breakfast" track listing:
01. SCG5: It's A Boy! (1:21)
02. Babez For Breakfast (3:29)
03. This Is Heavy Metal (2:59)
04. Rock Police (3:57)
05. Discoevil (3:49)
06. Call Off The Wedding (3:31)
07. I Am Bigger Than You (3:04)
08. ZombieRawkMachine (3:42)
09. Midnite Lover (3:20)
10. Give Your Life For Rock And Roll (3:54)
11. Nonstop Nite (3:56)
12. Amen's Lament To Ra (0:32)
13. Loud And Loaded (3:15)
14. Granny's Gone Crazy (3:55)
15. Devil's Lullaby (3:42)
"Call Off The Wedding" was written with Jeremy Rubolinoga and Bruce Kulick (KISS) over a five-day period that Mr. Lordi spent in Hollywood, California. Guitar riffs were recorded in Los Angeles. Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER) is a special guest on "Granny's Gone Crazy".
Reactivated legendary 1980s Finnish heavy metal band OZ has entered Park studio in Stockholm, Sweden with producer Nicke Andersson (a former member of ENTOMBED and HELLACOPTERS) to begin recording its new album, tentatively titled "Greatezt Blitz", for an early 2011 release. The CD will reportedly contain both new songs and re-recordings of OZ classics. Songtitles set to appear on the LP include "Dominator", "Seasons In The Dark" and "Signs From The Dead". A music video to support the effort is also in the works.
OZ's current lineup includes two new guitarists — Costello Hautamäki and Markku Petander — alongside the classic trio of Ape De Martini (real name: Tapani Hämäläinen), Jay C. Blade (real name: Jukka Lewis) and Mark Ruffneck (real name: Pekka Mark). Costello Hautamäki was previously involved with HANOI ROCKS circa the "Twelve Shots On The Rocks" album (2002) and he has also played with the Finnish band POPEDA. Markku Petander is also a former member of POPEDA, as well as YÖ — which also happens to be Jay C. Blade's other band.
OZ 2010 is:
Ape De Martini (Tapani Hämäläinen) - Lead Vocals
Jay C. Blade (Jukka Lewis) - Bass, Vocals
Mark Ruffneck (Pekka Mark) - Drums
Markku Petander - Guitar
Costello Hautamäki - Guitar
OZ is best known in the metal underground for its 1983 "Fire In The Brain" album and the classic "Turn The Cross Upside Down" single (a song that was subsequently covered by the band STORMWARRIOR). It has also come to light that BATHORY mastermind Quorthon was responsible for designing the cover art for both "Fire In The Brain" and "Turn The Cross Upside Down".
For more information, visit www.ozofficial.com.
According to Gibson,com, reunited hard rockers MR. BIG have entered a Los Angeles-area studio with producer Kevin "The Caveman" Shirley (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, AEROSMITH, JOURNEY, DREAM THEATER, THE BLACK CROWES, LED ZEPPELIN) to begin recording their new album — the first to feature all four of the band's original members since "Hey Man" in 1995.
According to MR. BIG bassist Billy Sheehan, the forthcoming album will feature "impossible bass and guitar stuff" and will be musically similar to the band's 1991 breakthrough, "Lean Into It" — the LP that featured the No. 1 single "To Be With You".
Frontiers Records released MR. BIG's reunion live CD and DVD, entitled "Back To Budokan", in October 2009. The set featured footage of the band's June 20, 2009 performance at Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
MR. BIG released a new "best-of" album titled "Next Time Around" in April 2009 through WHD Entertaiment. The collection included songs that were voted on by fans and contains two previously unreleased songs, "Next Time Around" (2009 remastered version) and "Hold Your Head Up" (2009 remastered version). It was made available as a limited deluxe edition with a bonus DVD.
Reactivated late '80s/early '90s technical-thrash metallers BELIEVER recently entered the studio to begin recording their new album for a tentative early 2011 release. Guitarist/vocalist Kurt Bachman writes in an online posting, "The recording is going well for and the guitars, bass, drums are complete. We're working on vocals, keys and leads to finish this up over the next several weeks.
"Must say that we're excited about this one and hope you are also.
"Once we get a definitive release date we will let you know, but it will most likely be in the spring of 2011.
"We're hoping that this one is less pirated also so we can continue to do this for years to come."
BELIEVER performed live for the first time in 16 years on September 25, 2009 at Sterling Hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The band's fourth album, "Gabriel", was released in March 2009 through KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Howard Jones's new imprint label Cesspool Records via Metal Blade. The CD featured guest appearances by Jones, Joe Rico (SACRIFICE), CKY/WORLD UNDER BLOOD guitarist/vocalist Deron Miller and Rocky Gray (EVANESCENCE, SOUL EMBRACED, LIVING SACRIFICE).
Denise Falzon of Exclaim! recently conducted an interview with vocalist Maurizio Iacono of Canadian extreme metallers KATAKLYSM. An excerpt from the chat follows below.
Exclaim!: What was the musical direction behind new album "Heaven's Venom"?
Iacono: We just had a very tough three years internally in the band, not between us, but everybody in the band had personal stuff going on in their lives. It was very similar stuff and we connected really strongly on this record when we decided to do it. It came out really aggressive, but we didn't aim for anything; it just came out the way it came out. Songs like "Push the Venom" are not overly technical, but they go to the point and hit you where they need to hit you. For every song, how it was put together depends on the feeling. We tried our best to be real to what we do; we're not trying to become something that's in a trend area. It was a very natural record for us to make at this point in our career.
Exclaim!: Why the title "Heaven's Venom"?
Iacono: In the world we live in, there's always going to be good and bad, and bad and good, and it's actually important to have both because it levels off everything and it's a perfect balance to be able to move forward in life. Too much of something is not good, so having a little bit of stress in your life is important to be able to appreciate different things that happen to you. "Heaven's Venom" is just being in a place where you think everything's great and then there's this thing that you can't believe is there that makes it bad, and it's just about dealing with it.
Exclaim!: On some of the tracks it sounds like there is a return to the "Serenity in Fire" days.
Iacono: It's a much more aggressive record than "Prevail". It might not have some of the same speed elements, but unwittingly, we got a little of "Serenity in Fire", a little bit of "In the Arms of Devastation" and I think also some "Shadows and Dust". It was just a very pure balance of our last four or five records. In some places, we actually go way back, which when you listen to this album, there are a lot of things that need to be connected in order to understand it. You'll see another face of the record once you read the lyrics, because this album connects everything. If you understand the meaning behind this record, you're going to understand and appreciate it a lot more. It's a really deep record and it hits a lot of things that a lot of people go through in their lives and we're that type of band; we don't want to do anything that's meaningless. It's important to write lyrics that people can adapt to and understand what I'm going through. The
musical aspect touches a little bit on "Serenity in Fire", but it touches also on a lot of different elements and that's what makes this record complete.
Guitarist Stuart Ross has reportedly left MISERY SIGNALS in order to focus on his gig as the frontman of the pop-punk band LIVING WITH LIONS from Victoria, British Columbia. A replacement axeman has not yet been announced.
"Controller", the third full-length album from MISERY SIGNALS, sold around 2,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD was recorded with producer Devin Townsend (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, DARKEST HOUR, SOILWORK) and was the group's second to feature vocalist Karl Schubach.
MISERY SIGNALS' "A Certain Death" video was directed by David Brodsky, who has previously worked with THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ALL THAT REMAINS and HELMET, among others.
Progressive death metal act OBSCURA has set "Omnivium" as the title of its new album, due in early 2011 via Relapse Records. The nine-track CD was recorded and is now being mixed at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer V. Santura (TRIPTYKON, DARK FORTRESS).
Commented OBSCURA founder Steffen Kummerer: "Although we recorded again with our longtime friend and producer V. Santura in the Woodshed Studios, the studio sessions were hard work and lots of sweat. It was for the best, though, since 'Omnivium' is definitely the next step for this band.
"Christian [Muenzer; guitar] recorded some outstanding solos with a new eight-finger tapping technique, Jeroen [Paul Thesseling; bass] brought his own stamp of fretless tone into the mix again, and Hannes [Grossmann; drums] recorded his heaviest session to date and broke through the 260-bpm line. Everyone brought lots of great ideas to the table and made 'Omnivium' a truly collaborative band effort.
"'Omnivium' sounds solely like OBSCURA, and brings us a step closer to reaching our unique vision of progressive death metal."
OBSCURA's recording and touring lineup consists of Kummerer on guitar and vocals, Christian Muenzner on guitar, Jeroen Paul Thesseling on bass and Hannes Grossman on drums.
Swedish death metallers INSISION have parted ways with Dental Records and are seeking a new label home. The band says in a statement, "INSISION have worked on new material and so far it feels like the the best killer songs we have ever written. Complex riffing with low gutural vocals will be delivered. So if you are [a record company] interested in having INSISION on your roster, do not hesitate to contact us."
INSISION's third album, "Ikon", was released in Europe on September 26, 2007 via Dental Records. The CD was recorded at Black Lounge studios (SCAR SYMMETRY, CENTINEX) in Avesta, Sweden. Mick Usher, who worked on INSISION's previous album, "Revealed & Worshipped", designed the new CD cover.
Bassist Daniel Ekeroth left INSISION in May 2009 and was replaced by Joel Andersson, who previously played with IMMERSED IN BLOOD.
INSISION is:
Carl Birath - Vocals
Roger Johansson - Guitar
Magnus Martinsson - Guitar
Joel Andersson - Bass
Marcus Jonsson - Drums
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/insision.
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